


A New Man Too

by beccaelizabeth



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-04-11
Updated: 2005-04-11
Packaged: 2017-10-06 09:27:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beccaelizabeth/pseuds/beccaelizabeth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ethan does some business, and gets some interesting information about Sunnydale.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A New Man Too

**Author's Note:**

> The original summary was: 'A New Man' from Ethan's point of view, starting with why he was in Sunnydale in the first place, and why he was in that crypt.
> 
> This fic did not in fact become that fic.
> 
> I first posted this as a WIP. Since it's half a decade old now, I think all the Progress it'll ever have has in fact been made. Sorry.

"You. Transformer. Outward seeming danger bringing. Two-faced be I, mask like armour. Make you?"

The demon looked down at Ethan expectantly, towering over his table with one clawed fist gripping the edge near Ethan's arm. His scales were hooked and gleaming, his fangs long enough to interfere with his English. Which wasn't overly comprehensible in the first place.

Ethan looked up at him with an expression of cool detachment, and took another sip of beer. Surprisingly good beer for a demon bar, which was why this was one of his more regular haunts. Anyone with business for him knew to contact him here. Some of his more interesting contracts started this way. This one, however, did not sound promising.

"Sorry, Mister Rayne." Another demon came up beside the first, a much smaller and more sheepish model. Not literally, in this instance. In fact he looked a lot like the other, but more human. Probably a half breed. He made a face that might have been a grin and continued, "He doesn't watch TV. Doesn't know what a Transformer is."

"Know I well! Transform I, transform-er!" The larger one objected, with appropriate hand gestures that unfortunately waved sharp claws a lot closer.

"If he means am I that Ethan Rayne that is world renowned for my spells of transformation, I am. I take it you have work for me?"

"Yeah. Uh, yeah. We..." the half-breed looked around, made a face, and slid in to the table opposite Ethan, then leaned forward and dropped his voice. "We want to be... well, not want, but, we kinda think we need to be... human." Ethan raised an eyebrow, and the other stuttered more. "Not for long! Not a, you know, 'lifestyle' change or anything." The little demon said, making air quotes. "Just, well. There's this place."

"Dale of the daystar, harbor of hell."

"I know of it." Ethan nodded, "I've worked there before."

"Then you know it isn't any too healthy lately, especially for those of a more demonic persuasion."

"The Slayer does do her best to make things difficult."

"The Slayer! No, no, she's okay. Well, you know, not okay. But you can work around her. As long as you don't jump out at her in the middle of the night or anything, you can live pretty free. There's always so many vampires she's run off her feet anyway. No, it's the new guys you have to worry about."

"Horde of humans, hunting hell-kind."

"Maybe humans. Maybe. I mean they look human, but how many kinds do? And how could humans take down a man like my friend here?"

Ethan could think of half a dozen ways, not all of them involving magic. But this wasn't the first time he'd heard such rumours. It was, however, the first time the Slayer had been specifically ruled out. That made it much more interesting. Could it be Ripper getting up to his old tricks again? Or was it a new player?

"Humans, say I. Brood mate bound they. Long time look did he, full on their faces. Humans. Many. Not the street kind. Bred for battle, like Linohyen."

"That's us. Linohyen. Well, him. I'm, you know, mostly. Brood mates can send stuff to each other. We've never been to the USA, but a lot of the brood went on ahead, you know, preparing the way for Barvain." Ethan made a mental note to look up Barvain when he got back to his books. The half-breed continued. "Then something went wrong. These guys, they found us, and, well..."

"Bound they our brood mates, took them to Tartarus. Suffered they so much, all of us felt it."

"Yeah, yeah, even us half types. We don't usually pick up much but this time... in my head, they were right there, for hours. Pain... pain bright as steel. White out, just everywhere..." the smaller one went distant, shivered a little. Then he snapped back to the moment with a deep breath, and looked vaguely embarrassed. "So, you know, we send someone after them."

"Went they in own skin, went they the same way." The larger one shook his head sorrowfully.

"So you want to try it transformed this time? Have you considered a simple glamour?"

"Oh, yeah. The second guy, he went with a glamour on. Figured he could just walk around like humans do that way. So they got him even faster."

"Masked are these men now, true is their seeing."

"We think maybe they've got thermograph goggles. We're cold blooded, they figure him for a vampire... it could be thermographic. But there's other things it could be, you know, all the way up to true-seeing glasses. So it has to be total. All the way. Transformation, not imitation. Which is why we came to you."

Ethan smiled modestly. Well, mostly modestly. He knew his worth. "You came to the right place. There isn't another man in England who could do this. And considering that, I think you'll find this a very modest price." Ethan did some quick calculations then wrote down a figure – quite a large figure – and passed it over.

The little demon picked it up and his eyes bugged out. Then he glanced over at his larger companion, who was giving him a very hard stare, and he wilted. "Oh... okay. I can pay. I... I mean, who needs stock anyway? I'll get this much together. We'll meet you here again, okay?"

"Of course." Ethan concluded the customary pleasantries quickly – meeting threats with assurances, that kind of thing – then went up to the bar for his next drink. And stayed there, chatting, trying to find out more about Sunnydale.


End file.
